Lake Constance Belt Railway

Lake Constance Belt Railway
Overview
Native name Bodenseegürtelbahn
Locale Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria
Termini Stahringen
Lindau-Aeschach junction
Line number
  • 4331 (Stahringen–Friedrichshafen Stadt)
  • 4530 (Friedrichshafen Stadt–Lindau-Aeschach junction)
Technical
Line length 74.355 km (46.202 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route number 731
Route map

Legend
 Operating points and lines[1][2][3] 
 Hegau-Ablach Valley Railway from Radolfzell
 0.000 Stahringen
 Hegau-Ablach Valley Railway to Stockach
 5.400 Espasingen
 8.515 Ludwigshafen (Bodensee)
 12.584 Sipplingen
 14.800 Süßenmühle
 17.525 Überlingen Therme
 17.900 Überlingen West Tunnel (948 m)
 18.910 Überlingen
 19.000 Überlinger East Tunnel (615 m)
 19.600 Überlingen East
 21.410 Überlingen-Nußdorf
 24.200 Birnau-Maurach
 25.800 from Unteruhldingen
 25.700 Bundesstraße 31 (50 m)
 26.455 Uhldingen-Mühlhofen
 27.500 Mühlhofen Ort
 29.600 Grasbeuren
 32.304 Salemformerly Mimmenhausen-Neufrach
 to Frickingen
 34.500 Mittelstenweiler
 37.452 Bermatingen-Ahausen
 41.147 Markdorf (Baden)
 44.820 Friedrichshafen-Kluftern
 46.700 Anschluss Dornier-Werke
 46.783 Friedrichshafen-Fischbach
 48.009 Friedrichshafen-Manzell
 49.100 Seemoos
 50.109 Friedrichshafen Landratsamt
 50.600 Friedrichshafen Strandbad
51.780
0.000
 Friedrichshafen Stadt
 Southern Railway to Friedrichshafen Hafen
 Teuringen Valley Railway to Oberteuringen
 Southern Railway to Ulm
 Rotach
 from Seewald junction
 4.310 Rotenmoos junction
 2.373 Friedrichshafen Ost
 5.586 Eriskirch
 Schussen
 9.346 Langenargen
 Argen
 13.100 Bodan-Werft
 13.632 Kressbronn
 16.021 Nonnenhorn
 18.143 Wasserburg (Bodensee)
 20.328 Enzisweiler
 22.266 Lindau-Aeschach
 Allgäu Railway from Munich
 22.575 Lindau-Aeschach junction(formerly Holben)
 Line 5421 to Lindau-Reutin (Aeschach Curve)
 Allgäu Railway to Lindau Hbf

The Lake Constance Belt Railway (German: Bodenseegürtelbahn) is a continuous, single-track railway from Stahringen to Lindau-Aeschach in the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. It runs mainly along the northern shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee), and bears the Deutsche Bahn timetable number of 731 (Radolfzell–Lindau Hbf).

History

The line on the north side of the lake was created from the connection of the endpoints of the lines to Lake Constance of the railway companies of the surrounding countries:

Stahringen was connected to the railway network on 20 July 1867 by the Hegau-Ablach Valley Railway. The first section of the Lake Constance Belt Railway from Stahringen to Überlingen was opened on 18 August 1895. Friedrichshafen Stadt station was finally reached on 2 October 1901. The section from Lindau to Friedrichshafen had been commissioned two years earlier on 1 October 1899. Friedrichshafen had been connected by the Württemberg Southern Railway to Ravensburg since 8 November 1847; this line was connected with the Württemberg rail network at Ulm on 1 June 1850.

On 22 December 1939, there was a great train wreck when a passenger and a freight train collided on the line between Markdorf and Kluftern, resulting in the deaths of 102 people. As earlier the same day two express trains had collided with each other in Genthin in Saxony-Anhalt with (186 deaths), it was the worst day of German railway history.[4]

Branches

Rail operations

The Lake Constance Belt Railway is operated by hourly trains as two routes with different trains. The entire line from Radolfzell to Lindau is also served by five through passenger services each day.

Radolfzell–Friedrichshafen

The Radolfzell–Friedrichshafen section has been served hourly since 2003 by the Seehänsele (the name is derived from See—"lake"—and Hänsele—a local carnival figure) regional service[5] using Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 railcars. Some trains continue to Singen or to Friedrichshafen Hafen. In addition, every two hours Interregio-Express Sprinter services (class 611 tilting trains) run between Ulm and Basel Bad, stopping only in Friedrichshafen, Überlingen and Radolfzell.

Friedrichshafen–Lindau

The Friedrichshafen–Lindau section is served by Regionalbahn trains roughly every hour (separated by 40 or 80 minute intervals alternatively), using Regio-Shuttle RS1, class 611 or class 628 diesel multiple units. In addition, Inter-Regional Express services run hourly on the (Stuttgart–) Ulm–Lindau route, as well as an intercity train pair from Munster to Innsbruck. On Saturdays in the winter season a pair of Intercity Ski Express Montafon trains also run from Frankfurt to Landeck.

Planned upgrade

As part of the electrification of the Southern Railway, the Friedrichshafen–Lindau section of the Lake Constance Belt Railway is also to be electrified. In March 2012, this project was included in the 2011–2015 investment plan in transport infrastructure of the federal government.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. ↑ Lothar Brill. "Line 4330" (in German). Tunnelportale.
  3. ↑ Lothar Brill. "Line 4331" (in German). Tunnelportale.
  4. ↑ Albert Kuntzemüller (1953). Die badischen Eisenbahnen. (in German). Karlsruhe: G. Braun. pp. 163 ff.
  5. ↑ "Seehänsele - Ihre RegionalBahn am Bodensee" (in German). Deutsche Bahn. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "Investment plan in 2011–2015 for federal transport infrastructure" (PDF) (in German). Federal Ministry of Transport, Construction and Urban Development. Retrieved 7 December 2012.

References

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